I Hope You Are Listening
by arithmetic
Summary: Lucy Heartfillia is a high school senior pianist with hopes of getting into the best music school in Fiore - with a little help from an old beat up turn table, a worn out record and seemingly carefree boy will her dreams become a reality?
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Hey guys! Welcome!**

 **I do NOT own Fairy Tail.**

* * *

 **Chapter One - Sleeping on the Job**

* * *

I glided my finger across the wall as I walked alone through the now empty halls of my high school. Soccer practice had ran late again and even though it was summer, the doors to the building were opened for extracurricular activities.

As I came closer to my favorite room to pass, I heard no sound - which was curious, considering this particular path was always alive with the sounds of feverish pianists trying to improve before a big recital.

I arrived at the two windows that looked into the classroom and peered in.

A grand piano was in the middle of the otherwise barren room except for the sheets of music scattered about the floor. Someone was sitting at the bench, but appeared to be unconscious.

When I noticed this, I quickly walked towards them "Hey are you alr-" I hushed my tone as I heard soft and equal breathing.

I had passed this room everyday this summer and never had I seen anyone sleeping in it. People fought for practice time and this person was napping? I bit my lip to force down a laugh that was bubbling in my throat.

Her arms were crossed, pushing down the black and white keys, allowing her head to rest on them. Light from the setting sun made the dust around her float and sparkle like glitter.

I slowly got closer, holding my breath. With one finger I reached out to touch her but before I could, she stirred, her long blonde hair tumbling down her shoulder.

Stiffening, I backed away gently until I was out in the hallway once again and found myself wondering what she looked like.

"Sweet dreams." I chuckled as I glanced in the room one last time before beginning my walk home.

* * *

 **POV CHANGE**

 _Lights beamed down on me, lacing my body with gold. Sweat beaded on my forehead and arms as I rocked back and forth, putting my very soul into every note I played. Caressing the keys and then pumping them with passion when the song called for it. The song was an ethereal being, the piano a celestial tool and I was only the vessel it passed through. With each beat of my heart I felt my body transcend into a transparent substance so that the notes could soar through and around me. The crowd erupted like a geyser that hadn't blown in a 1,000 years. Smiling tears flowed from my eyes as my fingers came down to play the last note and…_

A loud sour tone rang in my ears as I was jolted in an upright position. My eyes blinked slowly as I drifted back to reality.

I rubbed my cheeks and realized that I had been crying in my sleep, was I dreaming about something sad? I strained to remember but it had left me as quickly as it had came.

I looked at the window and noticed that the sun had almost set.

"Crap!" I yelled, checking my watch. "I wasted all my time!" I threw my hands up in the air and dramatically laid over the keyboard, a familiar ring of distasteful notes taunted me.

Getting up quickly, I gathered all of the sheet music I had thrown on the floor earlier and ran out the door.

* * *

"I'm home!" I called as I set my house key in the cup beside the front door, kicking off my shoes. Our house was small, but quaint. My father died when I was very young and my mother was an artist. She mostly worked sporadic jobs, a mural here, a sculpture there, which meant that money wasn't a stable commodity. But what it did mean was that our home was decorated like something out of a fairy tale. Paper chains, flowers and stringed lights hung from the ceiling, large bookshelves and tapestries plastered the walls and comfortable mismatched furniture was spaced evenly.

"Hi, Lucy." My mom poked her head out from the rounded threshold to the kitchen, giving me a gentle smile, "How did practice go?"

I laughed as I shrugged my shoulders, "it didn't. I fell asleep." I plopped myself down at the dried multicolored painted table in the kitchen that had seen many years of a frustrated painter, mom didn't really "believe" in easels.

Her blonde hair was done up in a messy bun, loose strands poking out in every direction, she tucked her hands into the pockets of her long linen apron, sticking out her tongue.

"If those intense kids at your school knew that, they'd have an aneurysm."

She was referring to the pianists that considered themselves the "elite" of Magnolia High. There are about five, and most of them are insufferable, playing music with a deadly kind of seriousness. I never understood that type of intensity, I play music because I love it.

"Then I think I shall broadcast my nap to the world!" I said, wiggling my eyebrows and impersonating a english accent.

"My dear, I think that sounds like a maaarrrvelous idea." My mother said, mimicking my accent and glancing over her shoulder as she cooked on the stove.

After dinner I went up to my room and flopped on my bed, a gentle breeze was blowing in, making my curtains look as though they were dancing and flirting with the moonlight.

Even after my nap I was feeling incredibly tired, and completely too lazy to even practice on my keyboard.

I had a old standard 88-key that my dad had bought my mom when they were in college when she had the hasty and fickle idea that she would become a concert pianist. It only stuck for a month or two before she painted it like an art project and casted it into a corner while it silently collected dust like old men collected mint condition coins until, several years later, I gave it a renewed purpose.

I raised my hands in the air and started to play an imaginary piano, going through my scales, humming each key. I let my mind drift and thought about other things. After awhile I realized that I'd been humming something that wasn't scales, a song that I had never heard of but seemed strangely familiar. When I was paying attention to myself, the melody was gone, of course.

Frustrated I turned over and put my face in my pillow, hoping the song would come to me in my dream.

* * *

 **And there we have it! I decided to make my own version of a quirky Layla because I haven't come across it being done before, what do you think of her?**

 **Please review:)!**

 **I am currently working on chapter 3 and once that is fleshed out I'll post chapter 2!**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: I have things to say at the bottom so please check that out! Thanks for reading:)**

 **I do NOT own Fairy Tail.**

* * *

 **Chapter Two: Hitting a Brick Wall**

* * *

It was the first day of school, finally my senior year. I had spent my entire summer either playing the piano, thinking about playing the piano or taking random art classes with my mother. So overall, pretty successful.

I stopped at my locker to drop off the books I didn't need until the later half of the day and out of the corner of my eye I caught a glimpse of a tiny girl with blue hair bouncing down the hallway.

"Luuuuuuccccy!" She called giggling as she skipped into my open arms.

"Levy!" I squealed excitedly and hugged her tightly, "How was Greece!"

Levy has been my best friend since early elementary school, she has gone from a child bibliophile to an even more obsessed one. Her hair was short and spiky, and her uniform fit loosely around her body because she has "other things to worry about than fittedness of her clothing".

"Greece was amazing, Lu." She said as she dragged her hands down her face dramatically, "we got to eat the most amazing food and I got to learn so much about Greek Mythology!"

As we continued to walk down the hallway towards our homerooms, I noticed that I didn't grab the right book from my locker.

"Shit." I groaned as I turned on my heel, "Levy I'll see you later, I grabbed the wrong book!" I began to jog down the hallway, already leaving a waving Levy behind when suddenly I hit a.. Brick wall?

Time seemed to slow as I started my backwards descent to the ground, watching my notebooks and bag fly through the air. Time resumed at its normal pace when I landed on my back, slightly knocking the air out of me.

"Jesus, are you okay?" A voice called from above as I propped myself on my elbows, my eyes meeting a pair of legs in fitted black slacks.

"Ha, ow..." Was all I could muster before the apparent "brick wall" was crouching down in front of me.

My eyes worked from the bottom up: His sleeves were rolled up and revealed his slender yet muscular forearms, his black tie was loosened a notch with the top button of his white dress shirt undone. Concern riddled his face, his eyebrows furrowed. He had pink hair that seemed to disagree with each other, causing pieces to stick out every which way. He was absolutely gorgeous and I knew exactly who he was.

He shrugged off the bag that was hanging on his shoulder and began picking up my scattered belongings, which to my luck, was mostly my music theory binder which had come apart in the air.

"You should slow down." He laughed as he shook his head. I moved myself to my knees and avoided eye contact due to my face being as red as a fire ant.

"I'm sorry." I muttered an apology, picking up each paper quickly, desperate to leave the situation.

"Hey.."

I glanced up at him, he held a piece of music and was looking at it, then at me, then… My Hair?

"Do you play piano?" He asked, seeming as though he was solving some sort of puzzle in his mind.

"No, I don't" I lied as I snatched the final page from his hand and got up, "I gotta go, sorry!" I ran back the way I came, my face hot with embarrassment.

I'd just have to do without that book today.

* * *

"Why on earth did you lie to him?" Levy snorted as we sat under a tree to eat our lunch.

"I honestly have no clue." I shook my head, opening my lunch box and grabbing my drink. "I was just mortified and flustered."

"Who was mortified and flustered?" I looked up and saw my other bestfriend Erza. She was tall and vibrant, her hair was a brilliant red that caught the attention of many passersby, her skin was soft and pale, she was the perfect image of beauty. More importantly, she was in the elite group of pianists at Magnolia, and the only the one I actually liked.

"Lucy ran into Natsu Dragneel and told him she didn't play piano." Levy sing songed.

"If Lucy Heartfillia doesn't play the piano then I must be fish." Erza joked as she sat down beside me. "Natsu is very handsome, wouldn't you agree?" She giggled popping a grape into her mouth.

"I mean, yeah. But so what? All I did was bump into him, publically embarrassing myself."

"And besides, the captain of the soccer team would nnnneeevvvveerrrrr even notice an extremely gorgeous and talented musician, right?!" Levy threw her hands up giving me the 'you truly are an idiot' face.

I rested my chin in my palm and scrunched my eyebrows, "you know what? You're right… Why hasn't he asked out Erza yet?"

Levy groaned and flopped on her back while Erza shook her head and pointed her half eaten sandwich at me. "Don't sell yourself short, Heartfillia."

"What do you guys think of him?" I asked genuinely curious, today was my first time meeting Natsu (well, if you can call that what we did). We had gone to school together since we were little but we never had a class together and we didn't run in the same crowds.

Levy shrugged, "I don't really know him, he was in my homeroom last year but he only talked to Gray Fullbuster." I looked over at Erza and awaited her reply to which she also shrugged.

"He's nice, constantly laughing and little too obsessed with soccer… So the opposite of you." Ezra joked as I threw my empty drink at her.

Erza dodged the can and cleared her throat, "anyways, did you decide?"

I stuck out my lower lip and shrugged, "Yes, and no. I obviously want to go for the Fiore Musical Conservatory, but it's so expensive my audition would have to be so good that they'd want to pay for all of my schooling plus my entrance exams would have to be perfect." I ended on a defeated tone, glancing up at the sky.

"Lucy you are one of the best pianists in Magnolia, they are going to be fighting to have you!" Levy exclaimed while she punched the air.

Erza nodded in agreement, "she is right you know. You cast a spell over anyone that hears you play."

I smiled warmly, Erza's words wrapping around me like a blanket. Coming from her, that compliment meant a lot.

Erza had began taking lessons when she was 5, two years before I started. She won competition after competition making her bedroom look like a hall of fame museum and the Fiore Musical Conservatory had had their eyes set on her since she was 14. She'd get in no problem.

I, on the other hand, would have to work like my life depended on it and considering my life is music… It does.

* * *

After school, I began walking my bike home, thinking about my piano lessons later on in the week when a soccer ball rolled to a stop a little aways from my feet.

I glanced to my left and saw that I was right by the school's soccer field, suddenly I saw a pink haired boy vault over the medium sized chainlink fence with one arm.

Landing with ease, he quickly rose up and jogged over to the soccer ball, finally noticing me.

"Oh, hey." Natsu said coolly.

He was shirtless, with tanned slender muscles like a greek freaking god. I couldn't help but stare at his back as he picked up the ball - his shoulder blades well defined. His cleats were black with flames on one side and his black athletic shorts hung loosely around his waist. I was already blushing fiercely.

"By the way I didn't mean to offend you or anything about playing the piano-" He said as he began to rise again but didn't get to finish because I was already hightailing it away.

I felt his eyes burn into my back and I tucked my head down, already out of earshot. Normally, I wasn't a shy, embarrassed wreck and I was never such an idiot with boys... But for some reason my brain shuts off in front of him so as I saw it, the best course of action is to leave and not humiliate myself any further.

Who am I kidding? I already did. He's probably going to tell all of his soccer buddies about the weird girl that ran away from him twice in one day.

* * *

 **A/N: So all of the characters in the story are slightly OOC, or maybe more toned down than their real selves. I tried to make them more realistic teenagers. Natsu is a quite a bit different, being more considerate and smarter than how he actually is but still has his goofy charm that I think works better for the progression of this story.**

 **(Also if you think it's strange that Natsu and Lucy have never met even though they've gone to the same school forever, don't! I graduated with like 600 kids and still today I meet people that I had no idea were in my class haha)**

 **Anyways, I am super excited to release Chapter 3, it's a long one!**

 **Tell me what you think and thanks for reading:)!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Thanks for reading!**

 **I do NOT own Fairy Tail**

* * *

 **Chapter Three: The Storm and a Game**

* * *

"So you know how I have that mural for the children's center coming up.." My mother said as she sat down across from me in the living room, crossing her legs dramatically.

I put down my homework and eyed her suspiciously, "yeaahhhh."

"Well," she took a piece of paper with something scribbled on it out of her pocket and waved it in front of me "I want you to go to this store and pick up some inspiration!"

This was a normal thing for her to do. My mom would make me go out to some thrift store or antique shop and pick out things I thought were cool, then she'd incorporate it into whatever piece she was doing, she thought that it was more special that way.

I like doing it, I really do but I was trying to catch up on some homework, you know... Trying to be the perfect student that the conservatory wants even though doing school work on a Saturday was the LAST thing I wanted to be doing.

"But mom I-" She cut me off by quivering her lip and giving me puppy dog eyes.

"Oh fine!" I huffed and snatched the paper from her.

She cheered for her victory and I was out the door.

* * *

I looked at the address on the paper and squinted at the street signs, it wasn't a terribly long walk but the dark clouds off in the distance made me regret my decision to wear a t-shirt and shorts.

I pulled my blonde hair up into a high ponytail to make sure it didn't frizz and hurried to the shop.

Pretty soon I was standing on a busy street in the city's center looking at a cute little shop with a beautiful wooden door that had a round stained glass window at the top. "Antiques and Furniture" was painted in gold script on one of the big front windows.

As I opened the door, tiny bells chimed. I let out a small gasp. The inside of the shop was like stepping into another, more magical world.

Wooden ships with sails hung from the ceiling as if they were flying, tracks for old model trains weaved around the dark red carpeted floor, open music boxes crying to be played were placed on elegantly carved tables. I breathed in deeply, the shop smelled like cinnamon and old books that had being loved very dearly.

I found myself wandering over to one of the many glass cases with delicate figurines. I was closely inspecting a wooden carving of a mouse and a toad playing the fiddle when two onyx eyes met mine from the other side of the case.

Startled, I let out a scream and jumped back.

"Hey!" A familiar voice called as he poked his head out from the side of the display. "You're that girl that keeps running away from me!" Natsu exclaimed as he moved to where he was in front of me.

I grabbed my heart and gave him a nervous giggle, "Lucy Heartfillia…"

"Lucy... So that's your name. My name's Natsu Dragneel." He nodded as he stared at his watch.

"What are you doing?" I asked as I pretended that I didn't already know his name.

He held up his finger, "hold on.. Just one second… Just one second longer annnndd.." He looked up at me and laughed "There! Now this is the longest we've ever been together."

I felt my cheeks get hot as gave him another timid laugh, "yeah sorry. Sometimes I can be a little.." I waved my hand in the air in a flicking motion.

"Strange?" He finished, cocking his eyebrow.

"Yeah.." I dug my foot into the ground and proceeded to change the subject, "what are you doing here?"

Natsu crossed his arms and leaned against the glass casing, making me nervous, but he didn't seem to mind.

"My dad owns this shop, and the woodshop next door. We just owned the woodshop at first but my dad really likes knickknacks so he bought it a couple years back. He likes to say he's some kind of dragon that hordes 'treasure'" Natsu rolled his eyes and pointed a finger upward, "we live up there. I was about to head out actually when I heard the bells."

I was a little awestruck, "this place is amazing!" I exclaimed excitedly.

"Cluttered.. You mean Cluttered." He chuckled, tilting his head.

"No I mean absolutely amazing! I can't believe this is your downstairs! It's like you live in a wonderland!" I smiled as I walked to the middle of the shop with my arms outstretched to emphasize my point.

Now that Natsu's full body was in my view I could see that he was dressed a little out of the norm.

Black t-shirt, normal enough but he was wearing a half apron with tools sticking out of the pockets.

"What are all of those for?" I pointed, curiously.

"Hm?" He stood up straight and looked down, confused about what I was talking about but then finally realizing. "Oh, I work in the woodshop on Saturdays completing the orders my dad doesn't have time for."

He said it nonchalantly but my face broke out into a huge smile, "what kind of things do you make?"

Natsu shrugged, "mostly custom stuff. Tables, chairs, doors. I do a lot of wood burning too."

I raised one eyebrow, "wood burning?"

He pointed to the wall behind me, "I did all of those."

I turned around to see what he meant, there were at least twenty wood slices adorning the wall and I walked closer to get a better look.

"Wow." I breathed. In front of me were the most intricate and detailed portraits of different kinds of birds, foxes, bears and even of a few people, that I had ever seen. My mother would be head over heels for them. One in particular caught my eye, someone that resembled a certain guy I knew - it was of a man that looked like he had just been told something funny, his dimples were pronounced and the laugh lines around his eyes were crinkled. He had short hair that had a wispy way about it, he was very handsome but in a gentle way.

"Who's this?" I asked already having an idea.

"My dad." Natsu answered behind me, not even asking which one I was referring to which probably meant he gets asked that a lot.

"He looks so young.." I whispered, still gazing into the portraits' tender eyes.

I didn't intend for Natsu to hear me, but he did nonetheless.

"Ha, yeah. My dad had me when he was 17 so he's only 34, but I did do that one awhile ago."

I turned around, finally breaking my gaze from the wooden slab and meeting Natsu's instead. His hands were tucked in his pockets of his pants, making his apron flare up a bit.

Suddenly a loud crack of thunder shook the walls and rattled various items in the store, I let out a small yelp as the lights in the shop cut off, leaving Natsu and I having only the cold cloudy glow from the windows to see. My heart started thudding in my chest as I saw Natsu's bright white grin illuminating the dim room.

"Afraid of storms?" He laughed, "hang on." Already squinting to see him, Natsu disappeared into the darkness, leaving me to fiddle with my thumbs in the quiet shop.

"This'll do the trick." Natsu called as he appeared once again, making his way towards me, sat down on the carpet. He placed two old looking oil lanterns and brought out a match from his apron, lit them and patted the ground gently. "Looks like we should wait out the storm for a bit."

I sat down, and examined him, his body bathed with the warm orange light of the lanterns, highlighting the gorgeous features in his face, the fire reflecting and dancing in his eyes.

I cleared my throat to try and bring myself back to reality, "so what do you want to do?"

"Let's play a game." He offered touching the lantern with his finger tips, his eyes fixed upon it.

"What kind of game?" I giggled, happily acknowledging his boyish charm.

"The kind of game that has stakes." His lips tugged into a smile as he flicked his eyes towards me, "the kind of game that if you win, I'll tell you my deepest secret. And if I win, you tell me yours."

I narrowed my eyes at him and gave him a playful smile, "is that so?"

"What do ya say?" Natsu leaned forward in his crossed legged position, putting one hand on his knee and out stretching the other.

I grabbed his hand, and shook it. When we pulled away I could have sworn his hand lingered on mine a little longer than what could be considered normal.

"Okay," he said looking determined, "the game is Two Truths and a Lie, have you heard of it?"

I bounce up with excitement and hit my fist into the palm of my hand, "Yes! I used to play it when I was a kid! You tell two truths and one lie and the other person has to figure out which one is the lie!"

"Exactly," Natsu slid his phone from his pocket and tapped it, "I'll also set a timer for 20 seconds and that's how much time we'll get to ask any questions each... So I'll tell mine and then you tell yours and then we'll both guess, if we tie then we'll do a tie-breaker." Natsu's face displayed a type of wild determination and I could tell he didn't like to lose.

"Okay here it goes. Number one: when I was a kid I broke my arm in two places because I was climbing a tree and a branch broke, causing me to fall… Number two: I thought 'pretzel' was pronounced 'prenzel' until last year." I accidently let out a giggle and Natsu stuck his tongue out at me.

"And last but not least, it is impossibly hard for me to wake up and once I do get up, I drink at least 4 cups of coffee before I got to school. Your turn."

I tapped my finger on my chin before letting out a puff of air. "Alright! Number one: I have a tattoo." I tapped the spot above the inside of my left ankle that was covered by my black socks.

"Number two: When I was a kid my mom and I used to go out of the city to random fields and bring star charts and name all of the constellations we could see. Number three: When I was a freshman, I was walking to school and wasn't paying attention, crossed the street and almost got hit by a car head on but he stopped just in time."

"Hmmm," Natsu thought out loud as he rested his chin in his hand, "Lucy having a tattoo, huh?"

"Nu uh. You gotta wait your turn." I said as I shook my head.

"Alright alright," he breathed as he clicked on his phone "your time starts now!"

"What bone did you break in your arm?" I asked quickly as I got up on my knees to get a closer look at his face.

"I actually snapped both the radius and the ulna in half." He held up his right arm which sported a thick black band and pointed in the middle of his forearm.

"Okay.. I'm pretty sure the pretzel thing is true so…" I paused to look at him, and smiled "how much water does it take to make all the coffee you drink?"

Natsu's eyes widened and he threw his head back, giving out a loud heartfelt laugh.

"No clue." He smiled putting his hands on top of his head, shrugging "I just fill the pot up and pour it in there."

The ring of the alarm went off and Natsu's face suddenly got serious, but I could still see a twinkle of playfulness in his eyes.

He hit the timer and immediately started, "you're not old enough to have a tattoo so how'd you get one?"

"My mom is friends with a bunch of artists all over the city and one of them happens to be a tattooer so my mom begged them to do matching tattoos for us on my 17th birthday."

"What is it of?" He squinted his eyes at me.

"A crescent moon."

"Name the constellations."

"All of them? You know there are about 88 that span over the night sky..." I raised my eyebrow.

"The main ones." Natsu shrugged.

"Well in the Zodiac there is, Leo, Aquarius, Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Sagittarius -" The alarm cut me off as it rang loudly.

"Well damn, I didn't even get to ask you about the last one!" Natsu sighed loudly as stood up to pace around our small lit area, he stopped and crossed his arms, "guess."

I raised one finger in the air as I confidently answered, "I think that you drinking lots of coffee in the morning is a lie!"

Natsu blinked at me, then a slow grin crept across his face, "wrong."

"What!?" My mouth gaped open and I flung myself on my back, staring at the ceiling "I thought I was right for sure!" I groaned as Natsu stood over me, my stupid heart lurching once again as my eyes met his.

"You know the constellations and you're airheaded enough to get hit by a car.. You don't have a tattoo." Natsu said smugly, sure that he had claimed victory.

"Final answer?"

"One hundred percent."

"Well get ready for a tie-breaker." I laughed sitting back up. Natsu's raised his eyebrows and tilted his head, plopping down in front of me.

We were so close our knees almost touched.

"Prove it." He pointed to my ankle and I rolled down my sock, exposing the thin black line work of a crescent moon.

"Cool." He said quietly as I looked at his face, the corner of his mouth curled into a smile, his carefree eyes trained on the tattoo.

As though in slow motion, Natsu gently raised his hand and moved it towards my ankle. I held my breath in hopes that it would slow my heart down.

His fingertips nearly inches away from touching my skin suddenly halted, frozen in the space between us. I tensed and chills ran up and down my spine as he drew back.

"So what was your lie?" Natsu asked casually, straightening up and putting both hands in his lap.

My eyes were still on his hands, "Uhm, the almost being hit by a car wasn't true."

"No kidding? Then you just do the hitting, huh?" Natsu laughed, referring to our incident in the hallway.

My face felt hot as I scrunched up my face, "No! I am usually very careful!"

"Suuuree." Natsu rolled his eyes, scooting away from me and put both his hands behind him so he could lean back.

"So what's your lie then? The pretzel, prenzel thing?" I asked, trying to mask my disappointment that the distance between us had grown, not shrunk.

"Never broken a bone!" He said triumphantly, giving me the wide grin I love receiving.

"But you knew the bones!" I gasped, I had been totally fooled.

"Yeah well I took Anatomy and Physiology last year."

"I'd say that's cheating." I pouted.

"Why? Because I'm smart?"

"No, because being a good liar is not a good quality to have." I joked and laughed as Natsu feigned being shot in the chest.

"You wound me, Heartfillia."

"Just tellin' it like it is, Dragneel."

Natsu shook his head and rolled his eyes, still displaying a handsome smile, "tie-breaker. Do you want to tell the truths and lie or should I?"

"You." I said confidently, now that I know that he does detailed lies, I'll be able to tell which is the right answer.

"So just one round, if you guess right you win."

I nodded and began studying him.

"I look forward to hearing your deepest secret Lucy!" Natsu fist pumped the air and laughed, then put on his poker face just as he had before.

* * *

 **A/N: So who do you think will win and have to spill their guts? Find out in chapta 4!**

 **Thank you so much for reading and be sure to leave a review to make me hhhhhhaaaappppyyyy:)**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey everyone! Thanks for the reviews and I hope you enjoy! :)**

 **I do NOT own Fairy Tail**

* * *

 **Chapter Four: Interrupted**

* * *

"My father and I's favorite thing to do together is go hiking, my favorite hikes are the ones we do in the rain." Natsu began, locking his eyes with mine. I tuned out the nervous beating of my heart. "My dad wants and thinks that I'm going to play soccer at some big college, but I really want to go to a small art school somewhere but I'm too afraid to tell him."

I raised my eyebrows in surprise. I couldn't imagine the kind looking man in the portrait wanting anything other than what his son wanted but Natsu said it with such a melancholy tone.. Could it be true? I shook my head in confusion and continued to listen.

"I met my best friend Gray in the second grade after he pushed me off the monkey bars for a reason I don't remember, we had a fist fight which ended up with both of us having bloody noses and being in a load of trouble." Natsu grinned as he finished, ending his act of seriousness and returning to his lighthearted demeanor. With each passing moment the orange light in the room became more pronounced as the lighting from outside dimmed.

"You can ask two questions." He asked, apparently deciding that being timed was too much of an advantage somehow.

"What?" I exclaimed, "that's totally unfair! These are hard!"

"Tie-breakers are suppose to be hard, and besides, it's not unfair if you ask the right questions." He shrugged running his hair through his hair.

I watched as the slicked back pieces flopped back into their rightful disheveled places.

I stuck out my lip, "fine."

"Why are you afraid to tell your dad you don't want to play soccer?" I ask, secretly glad I had an excuse to move a little closer for the game's sake and to my relief Natsu either didn't seem to mind or notice.

"I dunno. I guess I'm just afraid that he'll be disappointed. Me and him.. We are really close and we have a great thing goin'.. Everytime I bring up school, he always gets so excited talking about watching me play at the collegiate level that I lose my nerve. A part of me would rather just do what he wants so I don't ever let him down but the other half.." Drifting off, Natsu shook his head, "final question?"

I pondered over the answer he just had given me. Was it fake? We both established that he was a good liar but to put that much emotion into it?

"What exactly made you and Gray become friends?" I inquired, hoping that Natsu actually liked to hike.

"I guess it was the camaraderie of being in trouble together. I remember waiting in the office for the headmaster to come in and Gray made a joke about one of the pictures on the wall, then we both just started laughing until we got so loud that the headmaster burst in looking so confused. He had just heard that we had been in a fight and now we were cutting up. After that, the rest is history." Natsu smiled at the old memory and the sweet recollection made me smile as well.

"So, Lucy. Which one is it?" Natsu flicked his tongue on the word 'it' and tilted his head.

"Ooohhh I don't know." I playfully shrugged, then suddenly pointed at him and closed one eye. "The one about you being to afraid to tell your dad about what you want is a lie!"

Natsu stared at me blankly, the sound of easing raindrops clicked and clattered on the window panes.

"Damn." He frowned as he covered his eyes with his hands and I erupted like a volcano, jumping up and cheering.

"I knew it! You were too convincing!" I yelled felicitously, my smile beamed down on Natsu like a thousand suns.

He laughed at my enthusiasm and did a 'bring it down' gesture with his hand, "sit down before you hurt yourself.

I quickly sat down in a cross legged position with my back fully straight, playing up my pride a little bit more. "So your dad is okay with you wanting to go to art school?"

"He would be all for it. He basically cheers me on for existing. The truth is, I don't really know what I want to do yet but I'm pretty sure soccer is gonna be apart of it."

"Maybe a career in acting?" I offered sarcastically.

Natsu scrunched up his face, "I don't like your tone."

I rolled my eyes, making Natsu laugh again, "So. Your deepest secret, please."

"Rematch?" He joked as he looked at me from under his eyelashes.

"No way." I smirked, he might have looks on his side, but I have stubbornness.

"You sure you wanna hear my deepest secret?"

"Mhm." I nodded, happy and eager.

"It isn't a pleasant one." His eyes glinted with some kind of sentiment, but I couldn't tell what it was.

"Try me."

"I've never actually lost that game and can usually get people to tell me all sorts of stuff… You are the first one that's ever beat me, Lucy Heartfillia.." Natsu gave me a soft chuckle as I suppressed a smile.

Natsu opened his mouth to begin but was cut off by the ringing of his phone, "sorry" he sighed as he answered, "what's up?"

I stuck out my lower lip, trying to strain my ears to hear what was on the other side of the conversation.

"Yeah, I know I'm late, the lights went off in the shop so I decided to stick around until they came back on." Natsu stood up and shoved his hand in his pocket, walking away from where we were sitting as I wondered why he didn't mention that he was with me.

"I'll come right now. Okay. Okay. Be there in a few." Natsu clicked off his phone and walked back to me, holding out his hand. I took it and he quickly pulled me up.

"Looks like I gotta go." He smiled softly, "I'll have to tell you my secret later."

I nodded, masking my disappointment.

"Looks like the rain eased up a bit." Natsu said glancing out the window, "hold on." He disappeared once again while I blew out the lanterns.

Natsu came back with an umbrella, "Come on."

We walked out of the shop and stood under the awning as he locked the door, the rain falling down endless and quietly.

"Here." He handed me the umbrella and I glanced at his other hand, just noticing that he didn't have another.

"Where is yours?" I asked, furrowing my eyebrows.

"Only got the one."

I shoved it in his chest and shook my head, "I'm NOT taking your only umbrella!"

He stuck his hands in the air like I was holding him hostage, "Sorry, Lucy but I don't have time to argue!"  
With that he turned and began jogging down the street giving me one last smile and wave as the rain already started soaking his shoulders.

"Look who is running away now!" I called after him, even though I knew he didn't hear me.

* * *

 **A/N: What do you think Natsu's big secret is?**

 **Thanks for reading and please follow/favorite/review! :)**

 **Until next time!**

 **Updated A/n:**

 **So I'm kind of at a crossroads whether or not to combined chapters 5 and 6..**

 **Either it will be a 'kind of' short chapter 5 and a long chapter 6 or a SUPER long chapter 5 (and when I mean long, I mean LONG).**

 **Normally I post a new chapter once a week but if I decide to combined 5 and 6 it will definitely be a little bit longer of a wait. What do you think?**

 **A shorter chapter 5 but on time or a longer chapter 5 with a longer wait?**


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